JUMAILA BEEVI Vs. CORPORATION OF KOLLAM,

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners in WP(C).No.39273 of 2015, are the appellants before us aggrieved by the judgment dtd. 11/8/2023 of a learned Single Judge in the Writ Petition.

(2.) The brief facts necessary for the disposal of this Writ Appeal are as follows:

(3.) As far as the appellants were concerned, the Government order dtd. 27/4/2015 (with effect from 1/4/2013) resulted in a revisiting of the assessment done in respect of the buildings in question and effectively reduced the property tax payable in respect of the building. While the said reduction of tax ought to have enured to the benefit of the appellants even in respect of the assessment year 2012-13, for reasons best known to the Assessing Authority, in Ext.P12 order, the benefit of the reduced rate of tax was confined only to the assessment year 2013-14 and not to the assessment year 2012-13. This resulted in an anomalous situation where the appellants had to pay property tax at the rate of Rs.1,70,902.00 per annum for the assessment year 2012-2013 whereas they were liable to pay, and paid, property tax at the rate of Rs.89,419.00 per annum for the assessment year 2013-14 and subsequent years, on the same property. It is impugning Ext.P12 order that brought about the said anomaly, and Ext.P15 demand notice that raised exorbitant demands on the appellants, that they approached this Court through the Writ Petition aforementioned.